School resource officer added at Naples

Sunday

Jan 26, 2014 at 8:02 AM

By Erinn Cain ecain@messengerpostmedia.com

CANANDAIGUA — There will be a new presence at the Naples Central School District after the Ontario County Board of Supervisors on Thursday unanimously approved a resolution to authorize the Ontario County Sheriff's Office to enter into a contract with the district for a part-time school resource officer through June 30.

“We’re just thrilled,” said Naples Superintendent of Schools Kimberle Ward. “We’re looking at getting that presence here in the district and in the village. … We’re really looking to partner with the SRO.”

Sheriff Philip Povero — who described the role of the school resource officer as “educator, counselor and law enforcement” — said the position will be filled by an existing employee.

“The Ontario County Sheriff’s Office is extremely excited about the opportunity to add a school resource officer to the Naples school district to help educators and students there achieve the ultimate goal of high school graduation,” he said.

According to Ontario County Director of Finance Catherine Bentzoni, the school district will fund the entire cost of the program.

Ward said state police had for a few years provided a school resource officer to the district at no cost to local taxpayers, but the position was eliminated about three years ago. She said the board is in the midst of its budget season, and providing a school resource officer past June is something the board will be considering.

The resolution on Thursday passed after the Board of Supervisors in December held a workshop on a proposal to expand the school resource officer program into more school districts in Ontario County. According to Povero, the proposal would have added 3.5 full-time-equivalent positions to the sheriff’s office.

In addition to the school resource officer in Naples, the sheriff’s office has one full-time officer serving as the school resource officer for both the Victor and Honeoye districts and a part-time officer at Marcus Whitman, Povero said. He noted that Canandaigua and Geneva have school resource officers in their school districts through their own police departments.

Povero said the Victor, Honeoye, Naples and Midlakes school districts had requested a full-time school resource officer in 2014, and Bloomfield and Marcus Whitman had requested a part-time officer.

In the proposal, the county cost of the program for 2014 would have been $743,900, and the school districts would have contributed $258,538, for a total cost of $1,002,438. Bentzoni said there would have been start-up costs for the program in 2014, including training and the purchase of vehicles for the officers.

Povero said that under the proposal, the school districts would have funded half the cost for the months of September through June. The school districts currently contribute 100 percent of the costs for the 10-month period, Bentzoni said.

Former Canandaigua Town Supervisor Sam Casella — who last year was chair of the county Public Safety Committee — said at the workshop that it was an opportunity to get the issue on the table before the full board, but that there was not enough time for members to come to a decision on the proposal in 2013.

Ted Fafinski, Farmington supervisor and current chair of the Public Safety Committee, said he expects the board — which has six new members in 2014 — will be looking at the issue again at some point in the early part of the year.

“The question is how to fund it,” he said, adding, “I think it is a valuable program.”